Minutes:
The
Committee chose to scrutinise the following Cabinet Board items:
5.1 Strategic School Improvement Programme – Future of Secondary
Education in the Upper Afan Valley
Members considered a report that sought approval to consult
on the future of Secondary Education in the Upper Afan
Valley. It was highlighted that the Council’s responsibility is to promote high
educational standards and deliver efficient primary and secondary education.
It was noted that Cymer Afan Comprehensive School has a capacity to hold in excess
of 600 pupils; however, currently holds 226 pupils, which provides a
significant surplus capacity of nearly 65%.
It was highlighted that the Authority is proposing to make
arrangements for pupils from the upper Afan Valley to
receive their secondary education at Ysgol Newydd Margam.
Members asked what guarantees could be given to ensure the
safety of children travelling to Ysgol Newydd Margam via the Afan Valley Road in adverse weather conditions due to the
treacherous nature of the road. Officers explained that they are unable to give
guarantees but stated that measures are in place to ensure that all transport
contractors are safety checked and have all the necessary insurances in place.
In addition it was queried what measures have been
put in place to ensure that children are able to return home if the weather
conditions deteriorate while they are in school. Officers explained that Home
to School transport is provided across the County Borough on similar routes with
no significant issues being reported. Officers confirmed that it is the
responsibility of the school to monitor any adverse change in weather
conditions and to make the necessary arrangements to insure that the children
are able to return home safely.
Members were concerned that the children are going to be
subject to an increase in pollution levels
by being
transferred to Ysgol Newydd
Margam due to the vicinity of the school and the TATA
Steel Site. Officers explained that no
concerns have been raised by the families of children who already attend Ysgol Newydd Margam
but this issue could be fed into the consultation process.
Members were concerned that children from the Afan Valley will not be able to attend after school clubs
because of the lack of service buses running after 6pm to return the children
home to the Afan Valley. Officers explained that it
is the responsibility of the Head Teacher to arrange after school cubs and to
ensure that all the pupils have the opportunity to attend and are able to
return home safely. It was stated that extracurricular activities do not always
have to take place after School and can also take place during lunch-times or
before the start of the school day.
Members were concerned that bullying could be an issue
due to the increase in time that children would be travelling on the school bus
from the Afan Valley to Ysgol
Newydd Margam. Officers
explained that other pupils travel to school on school buses for similar
periods of time. If a school is made aware of any bullying instances it is the
responsibility of the school to deal with it robustly.
Members asked if transport would be provided for
children who choose to attend Maesteg Comprehensive
School or Cefn Saeson
Comprehensive School. Officers explained that under the Home to School
Transport policy, transport is provided to the nearest ‘suitable’ school which
in this case is Maesteg. Transport therefore would
not be provided to Cefn Saeson
Comprehensive School unless there was no space at Maesteg
and Cefn Saeson
Comprehensive School was the next nearest ‘suitable’ school. Officers stated that the preferred option in
the contained report is not for the pupils from Cymmer
Afan Comprehensive School to attend Maesteg Comprehensive School but if that was parents
preferred option travel would be provided.
Officers explained that currently 88 pupils are
traveling outside the County Borough to access school places so children do
travel outside the county.
Members asked why the report did not highlight the Estyn Inspection Report that stated ‘good progress’ had been made and that the school was classed as a
‘good’ school. Officers stated that the educational standards of the school are
not the reason for bringing forward this proposal.
The three ward Members attended the meeting and
addressed the Committee.
They shared their extreme disappointment at the
proposal and queried why other options had not been considered and that Cymer Afan Comprehensive School
was an important part of the Federation of the five schools within the area
which is committed to working with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council to
promote and improve education in the Afan Valley. In
addition, they stated that the Federation of Schools have requested that
funding of all the 5 schools within the Federation is pooled. Also, in a
Safeguarding report from the 6 June 2016 no significant issues in regard to the
school building were highlighted.
In relation to Maesteg
Comprehensive School it has been suggested that the children from Cymer Afan Comprehensive School can
select to attend that school, however, there are limited places at that school.
Concern was raised in relation to having a proposal to send pupils to a school
that is located in a neighbouring County.
It was argued that the Upper Afan
Valley does have the ‘right school in the right place’ as required by the
report and it was stated that there was no evidence provided by the Education Directorate giving the Governing
Body time to address the concerns raised within this report.
It was noted that the schools within a federation
maintain their own delegated budgets and identity but are able to explore the
advantages of sharing resources such as facilities. It was highlighted that as
a Federation there had been no opportunity provided by the Education Directorate
to look at any required savings or restructuring of the schools.
In addition, it was stated that the removal of Cymer Afan Comprehensive School
would have a negative effect on the existing Federation of Schools and it was
asked if consideration has been given to the terms and conditions of staff
employed within Cymer Afan
Comprehensive School.
It was noted that if all the children from Cymer Afan Comprehensive School
transferred to Ysgol Newydd
Margam the numbers of pupils attending that school
would increase significantly; it was then asked why Ysgol
Newydd Margam was built to
accommodate more pupils than would be served by its existing catchment area.
It was stated that the completed consultation for
the new school at Margam did not include the transfer
of Cymer Afan pupils and it
was suggested that all stakeholders affected by the closure of Groes and Dyffryn Schools should
have also been consulted on the proposal to move Cymer
Afan pupils to Margam.
It was noted that as part of the Federation of
Schools, current Cymer Afan
pupils were allowed to choose up to 6 course options from the curriculum which
allowed pupils to undertake a variety of exams. It was queried why this had
taken place if the proposal was for the pupils to be relocating schools before
these exams could take place.
By proposing that the children from Cymer Afan Comprehensive School
travel to Ysgol Newydd Margam, it was noted that the children would be travelling
for approximately 50 minutes to 1 hour which would mean that they would have to
leave at 7.15am and concern was expressed that this would have an impact on the
health and wellbeing of those children and it could have a negative impact on
school attendance figures. In addition
concern was raised that if any of the children missed the bus provided they
would have to catch three service buses to return home and these services stop
after 6pm. Officers confirmed that the opening hours have not been agreed and
can be suited to the children.
Concern was also raised that parents are less
likely to participate in attending events such as Parents Evenings due to the
lack of bus services. It was noted that there has been a 90% turn out for a
parents evenings in Cymer Afan
in 2016 and it was stated that this would not be realistic in the new school as
some families would have to rely on public transport if the Pupils were moved
to Margam. Officers highlighted that there are
options for teachers to meet the parents in their preferred location and other
options exist outside the traditional ‘parents evening.;
Concern was raised that if staff within Cymer Afan Comprehensive School
started to move to other teaching posts that this would have an impact on the
number of teachers remaining in Cymer Afan.
Concern was expressed at the way that staff within Cymer Afan
School were informed of the proposal contained within this report via
Wales online on the 3 November 2017.
Members of the Committee were asked to consider the
adverse effects this proposal would have on the community and future generations
and to reject the proposal or at a minimum defer the proposal to allow time to
have further and more thorough discussions.
Officers explained that all the points raised today
by Local Members can be raised via the proposed consultation and to allow additional
time the consultation could be extended if Members were supportive of the
proposal to be considered at Cabinet Board.
It was explained that a building condition
assessment has been undertaken identifying the areas of the school that need
attention and the financial implications of this. Officers committed to sharing
this information as part of the consultation.
It was highlighted that under these proposals, in
line with the Strategic School Improvement Programme children would be learning
in a 21st century school. Mobile technology will be integrated with a sound
pedagogical base to provide pupils with enhanced learning experiences,
equipping them with the key skills and motivation needed to raise standards.
Evaluation of the new Ysgol Bae
Baglan Comprehensive School has taken place with very
positive outcomes.
Members discussed how school provision should be
kept within the Valley and the issues that could arise if children have doctors
and dentist appointments where they will need to be in close proximity to
attend these and be able to go back to school. Officers highlighted that in
relation to attendance in developing the Strategic School Improvement Programme
and 21st century schools lack of attendance has not been an issue in other new
schools.
Members were disappointed that the report did not
focus more on the recognition of the work that had been done at Cymer Afan Comprehensive School
and that in a recent publication Cymer Afan was ranked 6 out of 10 schools in Wales. Officers
explained that contained within the report is significant data on pupil
performance and the Estyn Visit and that the school
had come out of Special Measures. In relation to the data published by the
Western Mail they only looked at 1 year of data to gain a more detailed picture
more data would need to be analysed but that the proposal was not here for
consideration today due to school standards.
Officers reiterated that counter proposals can be
put forward as part of the consultation.
Members referenced the strategy for encouraging
tourism in the Valley areas, and asked if this would impact on the numbers of
children receiving Free School Meals and increase the level of funding.
It was stated that the tourism strategy is still at
its early stages with no outcomes available presently.
Members asked if Neath Port Talbot County Borough
Council provided support for Youth Clubs.
Officers explained that schools are responsible for
monitoring the after school clubs but the Authority does have a financial
investment across the Borough in supporting the Youth Service which is provided
through the Families First Budget. Cynnedd also have
Youth Workers who engage with young people in a variety of ways.
Members queried the impact that the loss of
staffing posts within Cymer Afan
Comprehensive School would have on a community that already has a high level of
unemployment.
Officers explained that everything possible would
be done to protect jobs and that the Authority will also liaise with governing
bodies to give opportunities to staff for employment and redeployment.
Members asked whether there was a possibility of
deferring the consultation until after the Christmas period.
The Leader of the Council confirmed that one of his
main priorities for the new Council Administration was Education and it is the
right of every child in the County Borough to experience education in a 21st
century environment. Clarification was given that if the proposal to consult
was approved by the Cabinet Board, consultation would be in relation to the preferred
option for the children to attend the new school at Ysgol
Newydd Margam which is
currently under construction. It is parental choice what school children attend
which has been the consistent approach for all parents of children across the
County Borough.
In addition, Members were asked to consider the
importance that the approach to school funding is consistent across the County
Borough so that all children are treated equally. Presently, it could be seen
that the children who attend Afan Valley
Comprehensive School receive more money per pupil than other children in the
County Borough which could be seen to equate to the costs of private education.
Due to the economic climate funding is an issue across the County Borough and
when school buildings are identified as requiring major maintenance to bring
them up to the standards that are required by Welsh Government to support an
environment to encourage learning. All views and representations were
encouraged and to enable more time for the maximum amount of responses to be
received it was stated that the consultation would be extended at the
recommendation of the Scrutiny Committee and approval of the Cabinet
Board.
The Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and
Culture supported the information that the Leader had given to the Committee
for them to consider as part of the Scrutiny process and that an invitation had
been given by the Headmaster of Ysgol Bae Baglan for anyone to visit Ysgol Bae Baglan
to see what a 21st century school looked like and the opportunities children
had who attended a 21st century school.
Following scrutiny, overall the Committee were
supportive of the proposals to be considered at Cabinet Board with the
following amendment to the recommendation to be considered:
That the consultation commences on the 11 December
2017 and be extended until the 14 February 2018 and
will include the:
· Maintenance Schedule of Cymer Afan Comprehensive School;
· Transport Analysis;
· Community Impact
Assessment;
· and any other information required
by Members of the Education, Skills and Culture Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet
Board.
5.2 Welsh in Education Strategic Plan
Members received a report seeking permission to
re-consult on NPT’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) 2017-2020 as contained
within the circulated report. This was
due to Minister’s response to the Authority’s submission of the previous Welsh
in Education Strategic Plan, advising that the Authority needed to consider a
number of issues as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report.
Members asked for the Welsh Education Strategic
Plan Forum to be added to the Forward Work Programme. Officers highlighted that
dependent on the approval from Welsh Government; officers would be in a
position to bring reports to future meetings.
It was noted that the recommendation was for
immediate implementation.
Members asked that the outcomes of the consultation
be brought back to the Education Skills and Culture Cabinet Board before being
submitted to Council.
Following scrutiny, the Committee were supportive
of the proposals to be considered at Cabinet Board.